Mir Capitalizes on Early Error by Lesnar in UFC 81

In less than a minute, Frank Mir already had a cut stretching across his face and about a dozen of Brock Lesnar's fist prints on it.

But just when it looked like Mir was going to be mauled by the former World Wrestling Entertainment superstar, Mir showed why there's a lot more to mixed martial arts and the Ultimate Fighting Championship than just brute size and strength. It's about know-how and experience.

From his back and with Lesnar looming above him, Mir grabbed onto Lesnar's foot and submitted Lesnar 1 minute 30 seconds into the first round with a knee bar yesterday in UFC 81 from Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Mir (11-3), a six-year UFC veteran and former heavyweight champ, was greeted and sent off to a huge ovation as UFC fans booed Lesnar, who was making his UFC debut.

"I had Brock Lesnar, see that beast over there," Mir said in a television interview, making sure people noticed the glaring difference in muscle tone between two men weighing just 10 pounds apart, "dropping blows on my head and I still held on for a submission."

Lesnar took down Mir in just eight seconds and similarly to his only other mixed martial arts bout, a K1 fight on June 2 that lasted just 1:09, started pummeling his shocked opponent. The fight was paused and Lesnar was given a warning for punching Mir in the back of the head. By that point, Mir was already battered and only 30 seconds had elapsed.

Lesnar stood up and wasn't careful about where his legs were. Mir grabbed Lesnar's right foot, drawing it into his body and applying pressure by twisting. Lesnar, realizing he was in trouble, tried to leap out of the hold but Mir had enough strength to bring the hulk down. Only a couple seconds passed before Lesnar passionately tapped out.

"I was just trying to get a bunch of shots on him," said Lesnar, who claimed he will be back to fight again in the UFC. "I left my leg out there. No excuses. He's a top notch Jiu-Jitsu guy and he was the better fighter tonight."

Mir's fighting career nearly ended soon after he defeated Tim Sylvia to become the UFC heavyweight champion on June 19, 2004. Less than three months later, Mir was hit by a car while riding his motorcycle, breaking his femur and tearing all the ligaments in his knee.

Mir returned to the UFC on Feb. 4, 2006, more than a year-and-a-half after the accident, and lost two of his next four bouts.

"Part of coming back from an injury and competing at a high level is also having to put the mental game back on," Mir said in a pre-fight teleconference. "And that was one thing that I guess I hadn't really paid attention to. Because of the injury, everything was more from the physical aspect [rehabilitating]."

Mir could be in line for a title fight against Minotauro Nogueira, who beat Sylvia in last night's interim heavyweight title fight with a guillotine choke 1:28 into the third round. Nogueira became the first fighter to own both a PRIDE championship and UFC title.

Nogueira (31-4-1) was nearly knocked out in the first round by a few hard Sylvia punches that bloodied and dazed Nogueira. But once he regained his composure, Nogueira took the 6-foot-8 Sylvia (26-4) to the mat and secured the victory.